Hayley Rathburn’s Blog

The short story “Paul’s Case”, written by Willa Cather, gives the reader an interesting glimpse into the human desire to improve one’s circumstances. The protagonist Paul has a literal “case”, he is sick of his inferiority and wants to live a more glamorous, fashionable life like those of the upper-class. Cather uses specific choices in detail, motif, and symbolism to accomplish this. For instance, she tells the reader that Paul used to sit on a stoop in front of his house. He repeatedly mentions this detail throughout the story using a very negative connotation. So, this stoop represents his true station in life and how this causes him so much detestation. A major symbol and motif used throughout the story is that of  flowers. Whenever Paul is in a place that he feels is classy or upstanding (the level he wants to be at in life), there is some mention of flowers. But then at the end of the story, Paul learns that like flowers, one’s status and even life do not last. So fittingly, the story concludes with Paul placing a dying flower beneath some snow and then taking his own life. This shows that his “case” of wanting more than he was given in life actually turned out to be his undoing.